Staerk

"I REALLY, really enjoyed this inspiration," said <a href="#" onclick="window.open('/vogue_daily/popup.asp?keyword=camilla staerk','search', 'toolbar=0,status=no,menuBar=0,scrollbars=no,resizable=no,width=250,height=450,left=10,top=100')" class="maintextimageu"> Camilla Staerk of the Louise Nevelson-based autumn/winter 2008-9 collection she showed at Scandinavia House in Midtown early this evening.

The designer's affinity for her sculptor-muse was apparent in every look of this darkly sexy, tightly focused collection. From the long black column dress that opened the show - its jagged racerback strap a replica of one of Nevelson's best-known sculptures - to the ivory fringed bolero embroidered with the same jagged graphic to the spare leather tops and fringed leather dresses, Staerk channeled her "Bride of the Black Moon" (as the Kiev-born artist was known) with amazing dexterity and finesse.

The colour story - black, gold and cream with shots of teal and red - also originated with Nevelson (her collages, this time). And the silhouettes and textural byplay seen throughout - leather with open knit tops, a lush velvet burnout balmacaan, and sheer lacy dresses over stark (make that Staerk) gunmetal underpinnings - also revealed Nevelson's influence in the best way possible.

The only quibble we had is with some of the finishing (or, rather, lack thereof): a dropped hem here, a dangling thread there that distracted from the mysteriously beautiful aesthetic Staerk had worked so hard to capture. (February 8 2008, PM)